Prior to Tuesday’s election, Disclosure is bringing you the coverage we’ve given of the majority of our readership area so you’ll be aware of the contested races. This information is appearing in the current print version on stands right now, so if you need a hard copy of it, hurry and get out to pick one up; the new issue is due to hit the stands beginning April 16 and 17, which means we’ll have a full recap of election results in the new issue. In the interim, we’ve opted to go ahead and post the contents of the current issue’s front-page coverage of the ballots by county, to spur interest and ensure that everyone gets out and VOTES. There may not be many contested races, but that doesn’t mean these offices are not important. The school boards, township officials, aldermen/council seats, mayoral races and other items on the ballot, including ballot questions (such as whether a location should remain ‘dry,’ or whether a public safety tax should be imposed) are the bottom-line basics of public service…and they’re being abused daily in Illinois (and everywhere), so it’s important to PAY ATTENTION TO THEM. And the best “attention” you can pay to them is to show that we can do a better voter turnout locally than something in the teens or 20s.
So here is the sixth of the posts, which will conclude Monday and will be run alphabetically between now and then, continuing with Jasper.
Jasper County: Very low number of contested races
While there aren’t a lot of blank spots on the ballot in Jasper County (as there are on ballots in Edwards, Richland, Saline, etc), there aren’t a lot of contested races, either.
The Jasper County Courthouse, on the square, Newton
Mayoral candidates in towns and villages are running uncontested. In Newton, it’s Mark Bolander; in Hidalgo, Jason Kirby; in Ste. Marie, Jack Thompson; in Wheeler, Robert Flowers; and in Yale, Sanford B. Andrews.
There are only two communities with contested races for trustee seats: Wheeler, where three must be selected from candidates Joyce Jones, Gerald Short, Charles R. Emmerich and Edward Schmidt; and Yale, where four must be chosen from five candidates, Jamie Smith, Jerald B. Andrews, Jerry D. Middleton, Phillip E. Wagner and Nicholas Huddleston.
Township trustees, other offices
Township trustee races exist in Crooked Creek, Hunt City and Smallwood.
In Crooked Creek, it’s select four of six: Republicans Christopher Parr, James Houser, Robert Young and Jeff Carr, and Democrats David D. Ervin and Michael Evans.
In Hunt City, it’s four of five: Democrats Lafe Graham, Jerry Tharp, Tarry Birch and John W. Miller, and Republican James Miller.
In Smallwood, it’s four of six: Democrats Lindell C. Galloway, Scott Johnson, David Kistner and Nicholas Milliman, and Republicans Daniel A. Stark and Paul C. Will.
There’s a road commissioner race in Fox Township, between Dem Robert Smithenry and Rep David Pilman.
Smallwood Township has a road commissioner position up for grabs amongst three: Dem Michael Smithenry, Rep Alan Bollman and independent Frederick George Correll.
School board races
In Jasper Community Unit School District 1, three must be selected from Mandy S. Reiman and Jerry L. (Jed) Earnest in Twp 6N Range 9E; Gordon Millsap in Twp 6N Range 11E, Holley Farley in Twp 7N Range 9E, and H. Andrew Pullen in Twp 8N Range 8E.
In East Richland School District 1, two must be selected from three for an unexpired two-year term: Alex Cline and Micah Grimes in Twp 4N Range 10E and Pete Seals in Twp 3N Range 10E.
In Casey-Westfield Community Unit School District C-4, four must be selected from six: Alan Hurron, Jeff Gowin, Casey Overbeck, Terri R. Cox, Curtis E. Carver and Robert L Dougherty.
In Oblong Community Unit School District 4, three will be selected from four: Chad Pusey and Danny R. Swanger in Twp 7N Range 13W, Todd Musgrave in Twp 6N Range 14W and Michael Higgins in Twp 6N Range 13W.
In Cumberland Community Unit School District 77, three will be selected from four: Ben Bland in Twp 10N Range 9E, Robert Plummer in Twp 9N Range 8E, Kim Starwalt in Twp 10N Range 8E and Bob Blade in Twp 9N Range 9E.